Puerto Rico 1896-PG V 10 centavos
The first specimen was lot 21755 in Heritage sale 3010 (Boston, August 2010), where it sold for $2,530. The catalog description[1] noted, "Alfonso XIII 10 Centavos 1896-PGV, MS64 PCGS, fully lustrous and original with subtle gold and silvery gray patina. A very attractive example and highly elusive in this superior quality. We sold an MS64 ANACS in our April, 2010 sale for $4,887.50. Certainly among the finest known!" Puerto Rico, now a commonwealth of the United States, was a Spanish colony for nearly four centuries. For most of that period, locals used Mexican or other Latin American coins as the island has little bullion of its own. Coin shortages became severe after the mainland colonies obtained their independence in the 1820's (the island elite, fearing a slave rebellion, sided with the crown). In 1884, a number of holed foreign coins were countermarked for circulation; these were withdrawn in 1894. Finally, in 1895-96, the government in Spain issued coins for the island: five, ten, twenty, forty centavos and one peso. The bust of the young Alfonso XIII was also used on the Spanish five pesetas of 1896-99. Alas, the belated efforts of the government were for naught as the island was seized by the Americans in 1898. The coin today is now scarce, despite the large mintage, and avidly pursued by American coin collectors as well as world coin collectors.
Recorded mintage: 700,000.
Specification: 2.5 g, 0.900 fine silver, .1446 troy oz ASW.
Catalog reference: Cayón-17658, KM 21.
- Cayón, Adolfo, Clemente Cayón and Juan Cayón, Las Monedas Españolas, del Tremis al Euro: del 411 a Nuestros Dias, 2 volumes, Madrid: Cayón-Jano S.L., 2005.
- Calicó, Xavier, Numismática Española: Catálogo General con Precios de Todas las Monedas Españolas Acuñadas desde Los Reyes Católicos Hasta Felipe VI, 1474 a 2020, Barcelona: Aureo & Calicó, 2019.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- [1]Tucker, Warren, Scott Cordry and John Kraljevich, Heritage Sale 3010: World Coins, Dallas, TX: Heritage Auction Galleries, 2010.
Link to: